A Careful Balance
by StarShineDC
Summary: "Uh, I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career ... ooh, it's all too much for me." But is it really? P/B Established.


So after I wrote _A Leg to Stand On_ skimmingsurfaces and I have decided that we're going to take Pinky's ponderings (maybe we'll do all of them, maybe we won't) and turn them into fics inspired by them! We'll either write them together or separately, depending. And then whoever picks that pondering gets to post the fic on our pages XD

So she and I did this one together! And I picked the pondering, lol

Contains OCs~

Cici belongs to her. Cyan and Bella belong to both of us. Pinky and the Brain belong to Warner Bros or (in my opinion) to Peter Hastings, Rob Paulsen, and Maurice LaMarche~

Enjoy!

* * *

_"Uh, I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career ... Ooh, it's all too much for me."_

-8-8-

Giving speeches was far more difficult than The Brain had ever truly believed before he'd managed to take over the world. He'd given them often in his failed ploys, speaking into a camera with only Pinky actually in view. And he'd attempted to give a speech, or at least commands, to crowds a few times, but nothing had ever gone his way when that inevitably occurred.

Perhaps that should have clued him in, he reflected now, an ear twitching when he heard the excited squeal of his youngest daughter. She seemed to be attempting to squeeze her brother to death, which meant he'd said or done something slightly kind. But he was working on his speech, adjusting it and marking what had earned cheers and what had lost them, scribbling down his improvisations, and just trying to get better at a skill he already thought he'd possessed. Hm.

The ink of his pen was beginning to lighten, however, so he called out to his husband more out of habit than anything. He was trying to listen to Cici and help their son be able to breathe after the exuberant embrace, but the megalomaniac hardly took notice. "Pinky! I require a new pen!"

Pinky looked up from rubbing Cyan's back, ears perked as the little mouse coughed. "'Kay!" he chirped, only to have his ear yanked. "_Narf!_"

"No, mummy, stay," Cyan ordered hoarsely, scowling grumpily as he held onto his mother's ear.

"Cyan, I'm talking." Cici rolled her eyes, hands on her hips as she tried to help Pinky pry himself loose from the child's grip. "You can have mommy in a minute."

"No, now," he whined, flinching as Bella threw herself back on top of him. "Bewwa!"

"Can't the two of you let me have a minute with mom for five minutes?"

Pinky rolled backwards as his ear was finally freed from Cyan's grasp. Shaking his head, he glanced between his three children, two of which were pouting and the other blissfully unaware of any issues between her siblings. A smile graced his lips as he gave his oldest daughter a pat on the head. "Baby snow mouse, why don't you read them a story while I get daddy his pen? Then you can tell me all about the purple mango kangaroos! Poit."

He stood up and brushed himself off, not hearing the way Cici muttered how she'd said nothing about purple kangaroos, but she still sighed and managed to collect the twins and distract them with a book. Pleased with himself, Pinky grabbed two new, fancy pens and carried them over to his husband.

"Sorry, Brain! Here's your cucumbers!" he laughed, handing one to him.

"Pens, Pinky. One can hardly write with a cucumber." He glanced down at their children, pleasantly surprised to see them immersed in a book. Perfect. Using their distraction to his advantage, he beckoned Pinky down and gave him a warm kiss. It made him feel immensely better after the stress of the speech, clearing his mind to better deal with the corrections even while it fogged.

Pinky purred, tail wagging as he wound his arms around his chubby hubby. "How's your speech coming, love?" he asked with a giggle once he broke the kiss, rubbing their noses together.

"It's coming along just fine, Pinky. I should be finished shortly." Wherein he could take a small break before working on the next one, but speaking in France seemed to be the simplest engagement he could wish for. The past two times they'd gone, his approval ratings had skyrocketed. "But next time, try and keep Bella next to you. It's very distracting when she walks up to me in the middle." Even though all she'd done was take his hand and lean against him, only giving a giggly wave when the crowd aww'd.

"Right, Brain. I'll try." Pinky brushed his lips against Brain's again. "It's her turn to be held next speech anyway." The twins took turns, with Cici holding the hand of whoever wasn't in his arms. Which of course meant Bella always got away. She was very bouncy. "Do you think you'll have time for a family movie tonight? Or do you have to get up early for the reporters?" They always wanted to talk to their world leader. And the second-in-command too, for that matter. And their kids. Reporters were just very friendly.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"

"Bewwa, be quiet!"

"_We_ have to be up early for reporters. There's a press conference scheduled before our flight to France." But he supposed if he worked diligently on the plane, he could finish that speech then. And if it wasn't his or Cyan's turn to pick the film, it would more than likely going to be a cartoony monstronsity that he could write during. Though, to be fair, it could go either way with Cici. "If we watched a movie a little early tonight, I'll manage. Now go see what Cerebellum could possibly want."

"'Kay!" Pinky offered him a salute and a smile, only to wince as he heard the book thunk against someone's head, followed by girlish giggles.

"Cyan!" Cici sharply reprimanded.

"Bewwa!"

"_Narf!_"

Pinky just smiled and waved to his husband as he hopped away to defuse whatever erupted between his kids. "_Zort._ If you're all good, mummy will get you a nice cheesecake! But that means no fighting!"

"Yes, mommy," the three chorused, one with an accent, one as chipper as she could be, and one with relief as the responsibility of keeping two small mice from accidentally killing each other was taken off her shoulders.

Brain looked down at them, scowling. "Cyan," he said and it was really all he needed to, the growl in his tone enough of a warning. He knew better than to bop his sister, no matter how little it affected her.

The boy's ears flattened and he scowled right back, but he nodded nonetheless and averted his gaze. He scrunched his eyes closed when Pinky ruffled the fur atop his head and gave his cheek a kiss before sweeping Bella up in his arms and spun her around. "Jingle Bells! What is it, darling?"

"But, mommy-"

"Bewwa's tawking fiwst, Cici."

"This doesn't concern you, Cy."

"Uh-buh-buh!" Pinky held up a finger, then gathered Cici close to his side while he balanced Bella on his hip. "I'm sorry, baby snow mouse, but can you wait just another minute? I promise, you next." He kissed the top of her head when she nodded, crossing her arms across her chest and leaning into him. "Thank you, sweetie."

"Poit!" Bella squeaked happily, clinging to Pinky's fur.

Brain looked down at them, watching quietly as Bella got her turn. It was just for an excited "I love you!" and a tight hug, then it was back to Cici's turn. Almost.

"That's it? Bewwa, why do you waste so much time on unimpowtant things?"

"Love is _very_ important!" she corrected and batted big blue eyes up at her daddy. She always knew when he was looking, a skill which fascinated and perturbed the brilliant mouse. "Isn't it, daddy? It is!"

He colored, clearing his throat and turning his attention back to his pages. "Yes, Bella, it's important. Now if the lot of you would stop arguing so that I may return to work?"

"'Kay," all four of them replied in varying degrees of enthusiasm. Pinky herded the twins further away from their father so he could work in peace while keeping his attention on their oldest daughter as she continued to tell the story she'd started before Bella first tackled Cyan.

Brain continued to watch them, the distraction just as potent. But it was his family and the dumbing down of a brilliant speech was quickly becoming an irritating task. As Cici had observed on the first (and only) world domination trip she'd gotten to go on, he was taking over a world of idiots. It was difficult to balance the ruling of them with being a parent.

So he gave up on the speech and started climbing down from the table, was tackled the moment his feet touch the floor. "Bella..."

"Are you done, daddy?"

He looked across at his husband, vaguely reflected that he didn't seem to have any trouble balancing his duties as second-in-command with his duties as a mother. "For now."


End file.
